The Reluctant Rancher

by Patricia Mason

  Copyright © 2012 by Joann Baker and Patricia Mason

  Blush Publishing

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is dedicated to the two women

  who give us unconditional love, now and forever,

  our mothers: Maude Baker and Norma Hopkins

  CHAPTER ONE

  Mary Carter finished her exam of the two month old infant and handed the beautiful baby girl back to her mother. “She’s doing great, Jennifer, but how’s Mommy?” A registered nurse and the owner of a home health agency, she had provided assistance after her best friend had came down with a nasty case of the flu just days after giving birth. Today marked her last official visit to the Talbot household.

  “I’m fine,” Jennifer assured her. “But I don’t know how I would have coped if you hadn’t been here, especially during those first few weeks.”

  Mary smiled and packed away her stethoscope in an old-fashioned black doctor’s bag that Jennifer had given as a present to her last Christmas. Moving to Fiddler Creek, Wyoming, had proven to be best thing she’d ever done. Not only did she have her best friend close at hand, but the town and its people felt like home. It would be the end of her world if she had to leave.

  She tried to push her worries to the back of her mind as she watched Jennifer smile and coo at her daughter as she placed the baby back in her wooden crib. She knew her business would succeed, but she needed an influx of money – and fast. And her plan to get that money literally had her shaking in her boots.

  “Much as I love you and Jessica, I did come here with an ulterior motive.” Mary grimaced as she spoke. “My car is in the shop again and I need to borrow yours to drive out to the Tanner ranch.”

  “The Tanner ranch!” Jennifer exclaimed loudly, startling the drowsy infant. “Whatever for?”

  “Why do you think? Money.” She continued quickly before Jenny could utter the words Mary knew she wanted to say. “I don’t have much of a choice. The banks won’t loan me money and my application has been with the Small Business Administration for months now. My hands are tied. If I don’t get some working capital, and soon, I’ll be out on the street and everyone who works for me will be out of a job.”

  Even though patients were plentiful, reimbursement from insurance companies came in slowly. And with all of the start-up costs inherent to a new business, some weeks she barely made payroll. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d received a full paycheck. To make matters even worse, last week her landlord had called and raised the rent on her office building. No way did she have the money to pay more rent. Because of her cash flow problems, the small space already doubled as her office and home. Thank goodness it had a small efficiency apartment upstairs.

  The higher rent, intermittent payments, and unexpected expenses meant taking out a loan until the business began operating in the black, something Mary predicted happening in just under a year. Yesterday the banker at United Trust had politely, but firmly, put paid to the idea of a conventional business loan. So that left only one alternative – Luke Tanner, the richest man in the valley.

  “Mary, are you sure you want to ask Luke? You know how he gets when people ask him for things.” Jennifer’s expression said it all. Many good citizens of Fiddler Creek had felt the sting of the rancher’s razor sharp tongue after approaching him for help with one community project or the other. When it came to charity, Luke really only tolerated Mark, Jennifer’s husband, and his notorious do-good deeds.

  “Remember the summer camp for kids?”

  “Don’t I ever?” Last year the reclusive rancher had grudgingly allowed the county to run a camp for underprivileged kids on an unused parcel of the Circle T. Far away from the main house. When the counselor had suggested Luke come out and give riding lessons he’d refused, saying he had better things to do than teach a bunch of smart-assed juvenile delinquents how to be horse thieves.

  It said something, though not much, that the man allowed the county to use the land free of charge. And loaned his own cowboys to give riding lessons. But then, maybe the rich rancher just needed a tax write-off. Not that her proposition could be deemed a charity case, Mary thought quickly. Hers was a legitimate business venture which would prove very lucrative given time. But time was a luxury she could ill afford.

  Mary’s stomach tightened into knots just contemplating asking the meanest, orneriest man in the county for a big chuck of change. And based on what? The fact that she, Mary Carter, thought she deserved it? She had never thought herself worthy of anything in her life, never ‘up to standard’. She always felt someone prettier or smarter or just plain better always lurked in the shadows ready to step into her shoes.

  And despite Mark’s steadfast friendship with the man and the small amount of evidence to the contrary, Luke Tanner was a mean son-of-a-bitch by anyone’s standards. Plus it didn’t help matters that she had a full-blown crush on the hard-nosed rancher.

  She sighed, remembering how disappointed she’d been last summer on the rare occasions Luke had graced the camp with his presence. Naturally, he’d overlooked her just like most every other man ever had. Not that she’d expected fireworks and rockets and an instant proposal of marriage. She’d long ago accepted the fact that she would never be one of those small, dainty women that everyone seemed to find so attractive. She stood five-foot-five in her stocking feet and carried more weight on her frame than recommended by the height and weight charts. As she’d gotten older, she had finally found a semblance of peace with her size, but not before spending many long, lonely years.

  Not that she could be called a slouch in the romance department by any means. In fact, before she moved to Fiddler Creek she’d had a very active social life. Even though she didn’t have the waif-like figure of a runway model, Mary wasn’t an unattractive woman. Regardless of what the media touted, there were men out there who loved big, beautiful women. She’d had her share of romantic adventures, but they had been just that - adventures. Nothing that ever made her long to stay around for the happily-ever-after, or even for the night. She, like every other woman in the world, large or small, just wanted to meet the man who made her feel beautiful and special.

  But it would have been nice if there had been some flicker of awareness – and dare she even hope – attraction from Luke Tanner. She hadn’t even told Jennifer about her feelings for the man. Her friend would have ranted and raved, saying Mary deserved someone better. But Mary knew who she wanted, not who she deserved. But that, too, was just some hopeless, romantic fantasy. Sinfully rich Luke Tanner could have any woman he wanted. And that woman would never be someone like Mary. It never was.

  “Oh, Mary, I didn’t know things were so bad. You know Mark and I would help if we could.”

  Jennifer’s soft voice broke into her musings and she smiled, glad for the distraction. That was enough wallowing in self-pity for one day. “I know. But you have the boys and this little one to think of.”

  Mary moved across the room, pulling back the pink gingham curtains to look outside. Jennifer and Mark’s house overlooked the valley floor giving her a spectacular view of Fiddler Creek. Again, she thought what a wonderful place she’d found to live and how heartbroken she’d be if she had to leave. For the first time in her life, she finally felt at home, at peace with herself. Not judged on anything but her skills and abilities.

  Her childhood had been a constant state of upheaval with a military father who had been transferred every few years. Her bro
thers and sisters had relished the vagabond lifestyle, but not Mary. The constant moving combined with a weight problem had made her childhood difficult. Made it hard for her to join in, be one of the ‘crowd’. She had always longed for a place of her own. A place to call home. Now she’d found it.

  “Let Mark talk to Luke,” Jenny urged. “You know they’re friends.”

  Mary let the curtain drop back into place and joined her friend at the door. “That’s not a good idea, Jenny. If he says no, I don’t want this to come between your family and Mr. Tanner. I’m a big girl and I can take care of this myself.”

  Despite his hard-as-nails reputation, both women knew Luke Tanner provided the house the Talbots lived in free of charge and made generous—and what he thought to be— anonymous donations which ensured that Mark received his salary from the church every month.

  With one last look at the now sleeping infant, the women tiptoed from the room. Mary took note of her friends drooping shoulders. “You look like you could use a nap. While you’re sleeping I’ll whip up a batch of my world famous, double-fudge, chocolate brownies.”

  “Ummm.”

  Mary laughed at her friend’s groan of despair at the mention of the calorie-laden treat. Both women knew Jennifer would not be able to resist the chocolate temptation. Or change Mary’s mind about going to the Circle T.

  * * * * *

  Luke Tanner swiped at the stray lock of hair that had fallen across his brow. Picking up a precut post from the pile stacked neatly against the corral, he walked to the fence line. He frowned as he caught sight of an old pickup making its way up the long winding road that led to his ranch.

  With an approving nod he noted the slight dust trail the truck kicked up. Released from the bitter cold of winter, the rich Wyoming soil prepared itself for the renewal of life once again.

  But his eyes narrowed as he watched the truck approach. Because of his less-than-welcoming reputation, not many people deliberately made their way to the Circle T. He could afford to be that way, being one of the richest men in Wyoming and the richest man in the little town of Fiddler Creek. Heaving the post in place, he packed the soil firmly around the treated lumber with the heel of his work-worn cowboy boot.

  Who knew what the visitor wanted this time? When someone came to call it usually meant he should get out his checkbook and make a donation to the latest fund-raiser, offer the use of his land for some community hoopla, or hire some down-and-out drifter looking for a job. Always something. No one ever came to see him, to see what they could do for him. He laughed bitterly. The self-pitying thoughts were not his usual style but lately he’d been unable to stop them. He’d felt out of sorts a lot lately. Used. Taken for granted. Put upon.

  Being completely honest with himself, he’d felt that way since his ex-wife, Debbie, had walked out on him two years ago on their wedding night. Time hadn’t healed that hurt, he’d just managed to bury it deeper inside.

  As the truck passed close enough for him to see its make and model, his frown deepened. The old Chevy belonged to his friend, Mark Talbot, but Mark wasn’t at the wheel. His friend had moved his new bride to Fiddler Creek more than ten years ago to serve as pastor of one of the many churches in Fiddler Creek. He was one of the few men in Lincoln County that Luke considered a close, personal friend and their friendship was incongruous at best – the renegade and the preacher. Who would have thought?

  Peering closer, he still couldn’t make out the driver. Hell, they could be male or female underneath the oversized coat they wore. He’d bet the ranch that no woman’s high heeled shoe pressed against the accelerator. His full lips quirked upward in a self-derisive smile. Luke had a lot of money and some even used the term ‘rich as sin’ when describing him. However, the face in his mirror did not belong to a handsome man. He would even go so far as to describe himself as dog ugly. That, combined with his gruff attitude, made most females shy away from any close contact with him.

  He sighed in resignation, set one last post in place and headed for the house. No doubt he was about to be saddled with another of Mark’s good deeds. He shook his head in exasperation at what he considered his friend’s fool-heartedness in seeing the best in everyone. Even though Mark never directly asked for his help, somehow, some way, Luke always found himself in the middle of the preacher’s latest Good Samaritan cause.

  * * * * *

  “Who the hell are you and what are you doing on my land?”

  The shock of the deep male voice held Mary immobile for several seconds. She turned slowly, facing the man she had come to see. But if the sound of his voice had shocked her, the sight of the man stunned her. Mary had seen Luke Tanner on several occasions but she had never been this up close and personal. A mountain of a man, she had to look up to see his face. A long way up. With genuine feminine appreciation she realized that Luke Tanner would stand at least six-foot-four in his stocking feet. His shoulders were broad and sturdy, their huge mass emphasized by the flannel-lined denim work jacket he wore. His large size made her, Mary Carter, feel small and dainty.

  A patch of dark, curling hair peeked out from the neckline of his blue plaid western shirt and her stomach quivered at the tantalizing glimpse of his permanently sun-darkened chest. Her gaze fell, drinking in the sight of his strong, muscular legs. Whitewashed jeans clung lovingly to every male sinew. Even though his waist could never be called slim, it was in perfect proportion to his size. To Mary, he was a fine looking man.

  With great reluctance, she tore her gaze away, taking in the rest of his sun-bronzed features – his frowning forehead, his beard-roughened jaw, and his crooked nose. Immediately his eyes captured her attention. My goodness, she had never seen such incredible eyes. Green as the mountain grass after the first spring rain and surrounded by lashes a woman would die for.

  Mary shivered, more in reaction to this potently virile male than from the cold seeping beneath her coat.

  “Are you deaf? I asked you a question, woman.” The voice roared again, more impatient than before.

  “I’m sorry.” She mumbled the apology absently, still bemused by her first up close look at the man. Her crush had just been thrown into overdrive. She offered him a gloved hand. “Mr. Tanner, I’m Mary Carter, a friend of Jennifer and Mark Talbot. I called yesterday and set up an appointment to talk to you.”

  Mary saw the narrowing of his eyes as he shook her hand. She returned his stare, her eyes steady even though she blushed and wanted to look away.

  “You must have spoken with my grandfather. What is it this time? I’ve given to the Red Cross and the Little League. Are you here to collect for the Save the Whales Campaign? Because if you are, honey, I’m telling you it’s a lost cause. To the best of my knowledge, no whale has ever been stranded in Fiddler Creek.”

  The cold sarcasm in the rancher’s voice was exactly what she’d expected. She’d know he’d be hard nosed, but her self-doubts rose. Was he judging her on how she looked? If she’d been a long legged blonde would he have smiled and welcomed her with open arms?

  Open arms. My, oh my, wouldn’t that be something. She would bet her next almost-there next paycheck that would be something any woman would want to remember.

  She scolded herself for her lack of self-confidence. Now was not the time to let her insecurities surface. She had a chance to make a difference in her life and she would not let one stubborn cowboy stand in her way. She felt her temper rise as he continued to stare at her.

  Luke Tanner was not God’s gift to women by anyone’s standards. His features were roughhewn and rawboned and he would never grace the cover of GQ any more than she’d be selected as a cover girl for Cosmo. She wanted so badly to pick up her briefcase, march back to Mark’s truck and drive away from the Circle T and the obnoxious man standing before her. Only the thought of the six part-time nurses on her payroll prevented her from hightailing it back to town as fast as she could.

  “I’m not here to collect for any charity, even though it wouldn’t hurt you to d
onate to Save the Whales,” she couldn’t resist adding, her temper swelling several more degrees. He looked totally bored. She took a calming breath and continued before losing her nerve. If she was going to be dismissed out of hand, she might as well go for broke. “You see, Mr. Tanner, I’m a nurse and –”

  “I suppose you’ll do.” Luke cut her off. “I don’t know what my grandfather told you concerning the job, but it’s yours. Follow me.” He strode up the steps leading to the sprawling ranch house.

  “Wait a minute.” She put a restraining hand on his arm as he passed, earning herself a fierce glare in return.

  “What is it now? I’m a very busy man, Ms. Carter.”

  Mary almost lost her nerve. Almost. “I didn’t come here about a job. I came here to ask for a loan.”

  He stopped abruptly. “I am not your local ATM machine, darling,” he drawled, contempt evident in every line of his craggy face.

  “I never thought you were, sugar,” she replied testily, taking a deep breath. “And believe me, if I had any alternative other than coming to you, Mr. Tanner, I’d have taken it.” She knew her mocking tone rolled off him like water on a duck’s back but she’d never liked the casual endearments men threw out like bathwater. When someone called her darling, she wanted it to mean something.

  “I called yesterday to speak with you. The man who made the appointment said nothing about interviewing for a job.”

  The big man sighed and shook his head. She hid her smile, wondering if his relative sometimes gave him hell on occasion.

  “Since my grandfather saw fit to make you an appointment, it’s only fitting he be included in your little presentation. You can pitch your business plan over dinner. Welcome to the Circle T, sweetcakes.”

  Irritation swelled at the taunt, but she held her temper as she tried to keep up with his long legged strides. Her mind whirled.

  What had just happened?

  Did he need a nurse or did she present her plan? He didn’t look sick. In fact, he looked like an incredibly healthy male specimen. A fine specimen indeed, she thought, catching sight of the well worn denims pulling tight over his firm butt and muscular legs as he climbed the front porch steps. Whoa, Mary, she chided herself. She couldn’t let herself think about her growing attraction to this man, too much depended on how she handled the next hour or so.